A FOUNDATION FOR FAITH - Virtual Theological Resources

1 1A FOUNDATION for FAITH A n introductory Study of Systematic Theology With References ToThe Baptist Confession of FAITH of 1689byStanford E. Murrell, For other FOUNDATION can no man lay thanthat is laid, which is Jesus 1 Corinthians 3:112A FOUNDATION FOR FAITHT able of ContentsPreface to the Study of Systematic TheologyPart ITheology Proper: The Study of GodIntroductionA Confession of FaithDefinition of TheologyTheology is UniversalChapter 1 The Method of TheologyThe Speculative MethodThe Mysticism MethodThe Inductive MethodChapter 2 The Source of TheologyFive Kinds of TheologyNatural TheologyRevealed (Biblical) TheologyDogmatic TheologyPractical TheologyTheology ProperChapter 3 Can God Be Known?

2 The Biblical DeclarationThe Argument of the Agnostics A Response to AgnosticismThe Distinction between Apprehension and ComprehensionCan God Be Defined?Chapter 4 Arguments for the Existence of GodThe Ontological ArgumentEvaluation of the Ontological ArgumentThe Cosmological ArgumentResistance to ReasonA Reasonable ResponseThe Teleological ArgumentObjection to the Teleological ArgumentThe Moral ArgumentThe Historical Argument3 Chapter 5 Anti-Theistic Theories Atheism Polytheism Materialism Objections To Materialism Pantheism The Pain Of Pantheism The Promises Of GodChapter 6 Anti-Christian Theories Deism History of Deism Objections to Deism

3 Rationalism A Challenge to Rationalism Pessimism The Doctrine of A Finite God Your God Is Too SmallChapter 7 The Nature Of God The Oneness of God The Personality of GodGod CreatesGod EliminatesGod Furnishes what is Needed to Sustain LifeGod ExaltsGod LovesGod Is ConcernedGod Answers PrayersGod HatesGod Repents Objections to the Personality of God Knowing What Is Known The Substance of God The Attributes of GodOmnipresenceInfinitudeEternalityImmut abilitySovereigntyTranscendenceImmanence A Trinity of Persons Proof of the Trinity4 Denial of The TrinityArianismSem-ArianismSabellianismU nitarianism Defenders Of The FaithJustine MartyrIranaeusClement Of AlexandriaTertullianHyppolytusOrigen The Tri-Unity The Relation between Father, Son, And Holy Spirit The Value of the Doctrine of the Trinity The Holy Spirit The Spirit Is A PersonChapter 8 The Decrees Of God A Confession of FAITH .

4 God Has A Purpose A Distinction In The Divine Decree The Decree of GodGod Has Decreed the General Course Of HistoryGod Has Decreed Particular EventsGod Has Decreed the Salvation Of SinnersGod Has Decreed the Evil That Men DoGod Has Decreed All Accidental EventsGod Has Decreed the Means As Well As the End of All Things The Order of The DecreesSupralapsarianInfralapsarian God's Decree Makes Foreknowledge Possible The Decree In Reference To Free Agency Additional ArgumentsChapter 9 The Works Of God A Confession of FAITH Creation Three Possible Explanations of Creation Creation and Evolution The Sad State of the Theistic Evolutionist Remarks On Evolution In General Providence Is Creation Continual?

5 5 The Extent Of Divine ProvidenceGod Governs the Physical UniverseGod Governs the Animal CreationGod Governs the Events of Human HistoryGod Governs the Lives of IndividualsGod Governs the Smallest Details of LifeGod Governs the Fortuitous EventsGod Governs the Free Actions of MenGod Governs the Sinful Actions of Men God Is Not the Author of Sin Why Sin is Allowed in the Saints The Purpose of Sin in the Unsaved Definition of A Miracle Classification of Miracles Are Miracles Probable Or Improbable? A World Without Miracles Miracles Are Instructive When and Where Do Miracles Occur?

6 Objections By Rationalism And Modernism The Silence of the Skeptics Special Arguments for MiraclesPart IIBibliology: The Study of the BibleChapter 10 The Scriptures A Confession of FAITH Definition of Bibliology The Books of the Bible A Revelation from God The Bible: A Book That Can Be Believed Great Belief Is Not Bibliolatry A Day of Divine Discovery The Harmony of the Bible The Bible Reveals One Story The Essential Unity in the Scriptural Narrative The Centrality of Christ Liberal Theology and The Lord of Glory Responding to the RationalistsChapter 11 Our God Breathed Book.

7 The Bible The Inspiration of Scriptures Negative Theories of Divine Inspiration Plenary And Verbal Inspiration6 Inspiration and Inerrancy The Autographs What Do the Scriptures Say as to their Own Inerrancy? Old Testament Claims to Divine Inspiration The New Testament Affirms the Inspiration of the Old Testament The Inspiration of the New Testament Proof Of Inspiration from General Consideration The Testimony of Jesus Christ Christ s Appeal to the Scriptures Inspiration and the Prophets What About the Various Readings?

8 The Dead Sea Scrolls The Septuagint The Authority of the Scriptures The Perspicuity (Clearness) Of Scriptures Is Formal Education Necessary to Understand The Bible? The Church Fathers Were The Apostles Deceived?Part IIIA nthropology: The Study Of ManChapter 12 The Origin Of Man A Confession of FAITH A Definition of Anthropology The Soul is not a Divine Emanation The Soul is not a Form of God The Soul is not the Product of Spontaneous Generation The Soul Cannot Accounted For By Evolution What is the Soul?

9 Rational Objections to Evolution The Great Gaps The Insufficiency of Time The Sterility of Birds The Remains of Men The Discrepancies between Kingdoms The Law of Entropy The Lack of Visual Evidence The Logical Impossibility of the Evolutionary Process A Theory of Recapitulation The Recapitulation Theory Does Not Matter The Harm of Change The Fossils Say No! Questions Raised By the Theory Of Evolution7 Chapter 13 The Origin Of The Soul How Does the Soul Come Into Existence? Traducianism Arguments from Scripture for Traducianism The Case for Creationism The Critics of Creationism Summary EvaluationChapter 14 The Nature Of Man Dichotomy: A Division between Soul and Body Scriptural Evidence of Dichotomy The Trichotomy Theory.

10 Body, Soul, And Spirit Arguments Against the Trichotomous Theory Three Main Theories as to Free Agency Fatalism Self-determination Free Agency The Relation of Free Will to RegenerationChapter 15 The Original State Of Man From the Hand of God The Soul Was Created in the Image Of God How Did God Create Man? A Selected View of Man s Original StateThe Pelagian Doctrine of Man's Original State Chapter 16 The Covenant Of Works What Is A Covenant? The Doctrine Defined The Scriptural Evidence For A Covenant of Works A Representative for Posterity ProbationChapter 17 The Fall Of Man Was There A Fall?